Shop Windows to the Universe

This ultraviolet image of Jupiter shows the glowing aurora in the giant planet's atmosphere above the North Pole (top) and South Pole (bottom).
Click on image for full size Image courtesy of J. Clarke and G. Ballester (U. of Michigan), J. Trauger and R. Evans (JPL) and NASA.

Unlike Earth, which is rocky and relatively rigid, Jupiter is a deformable ball of gas and fluids. Though Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, it rotates more rapidly than any of the other planets. Its day is just under 10 hours long. Jupiter's fast spin and "squishy" consistency cause the planet to bulge outward at its equator and pull inward at the poles. Jupiter's equatorial diameter is, therefore, about 7% larger than the distance between its poles.

Earth's poles are far colder than its tropics, but the temperatures on Jupiter do not vary with latitude. Much of Jupiter's warmth comes from internal heating instead of sunlight, so its poles are just as warm as its equator. Earth and Jupiter are alike, however, in having stormy poles: they are the only two planets so far observed to have lightning near their poles.

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